JAZZCORNER/DETROIT INT'L JAZZ FEST VIP GIVEAWAY - WINNERS!

[Lois Gilbert]

Jazzcorner has a VIP weekend pass to The 26th Annual Detroit International Jazz Festival, September 2-5

The largest free jazz festival in North America, featuring 6 stages and over 100 acts, from Dr. John and the Blind Boys of Alabama to McCoy Tyner and Dave Brubeck.

This means:

The VIP weekend pass provides free parking and complimentary food and beverage in two festival locations:

The Hard Rock Cafe patio at Campus Martius: from 3-6pm Sat-Mon
The Lincoln Garden at Hart Plaza: from 7-10pm Sat-Mon

Both locations are steps away from the main stage events. The winner (plus 1) will check into one of the locations for credentials, wrist bands, parking pass and drink tickets. You'll have awesome views and mingle with the performers.

---------------
If you're interested in scoring the VIP pass - email me (PLEASE NO PMs) at lois@jazzcorner.com with your screen name, real name, address and telephone # and email.

We will pick the winner at random and announce on Wednesday August 31st.

[Lois Gilbert]

I am so pleased to tell you that the Detroit Int'l Jazz Fest is giving 3 (plus one) VIP passes for Sat, Sun and Mon!

The winners are:

Jazzzoline
Quebec City, Canada

Al in NYC
Bklyn, NY

Frisco
Oak Park, MI

I will email you all the info and who to contact which you need to do before the Festival (which really begins Friday)

Again congratulations, and a big thank you to the great folks at the Detroit Jazz Festival

PS. Take lots of pictures and let us know how awesome the music was!

[Lois Gilbert]

New Orleans musicians help open Detroit jazz festival
September 3, 2005, 10:00 AM


DETROIT (AP) -- With the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on their minds, members of the Regal Brass Band of New Orleans helped open the Detroit International Jazz Festival with a rousing rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In."

Saxophonist and bandleader Butch Gomez, who saw the New Orleans convenience store he owns underwater on an Internet news broadcast, was among the members who played to an audience of about 2,000 on Friday.

"We decided it wasn't going to do any good to stay where we were," Gomez, 59, told the Detroit Free Press. "We might as well come and keep the spirit going. ... It feels very therapeutic. Music is our life."

The band is in residence through Monday, marching from downtown's Campus Martius to Hart Plaza on the Detroit River twice a day.

Gomez and his wife evacuated Sunday to Covington, Ga. He located one of his tuba players in Panama City, Fla., a drummer in Houston and his trombone player returning from Japan. But four other players were missing.

Two Detroiters, drummer Leonard King and trumpeter James O'Donnell, were filling in for the missing members.

During Friday's performance, many were overcome with emotion.

"I don't know how they did it knowing what they left behind and what they have to go back to," said Archie Rawlings of Farmington Hills.

[Lois Gilbert]

On a mellow night, good times roll at Jazz Festival

Varied events swell crowd from plaza to park

By Lawrence B. Johnson / The Detroit News


Donna Terek/The Detroit News

Joey DeFrancesco at the Absopure Waterfront stage at Hart Plaza.


Detroit International Jazz Festival schedule
Expansion takes Jazz Fest into a joyful groove
Expanded jazz festival snakes up Woodward, adds soul, gospel, funk


It was beautiful, man. The night, the crowd, the music, the scene. Blessed with its second day of breezy, balmy weather, the Detroit International Jazz Festival drew a huge turnout of humanity that flowed from Hart Plaza to Campus Martius Park, buoyed on high spirits - and kept on flowing both directions even after the last concert had ended in early evening on the Campus Martius stage.

If this expanded 26th edition of the big, free jazz festival has a signature feature, it is variety. That was artistic director Frank Malfitano's objective in extending the four-day event up Woodward Avenue to Campus Martius and in creating that new stage along with the Spirit of Detroit stage at the corner of Woodward and Jefferson avenues. Consider that objective achieved.

The 2005 festival has plausibly widened the frame of a Detroit jazz festival to include blues, gospel, funk, r&b and the classic Motown sound. There was plenty of great jazz to be savored Saturday, and plenty more coming in the next two days. But there's also something distinctly new and fresh about this year's festival. It's simply more fun.

"I like this," declared Lorman Dale, 64, of Saginaw, who had come with friends to enjoy the day. Dale was standing in the northbound lanes of Woodward Avenue, where automobile traffic had given way to food tents and vendors selling everything from soap and sunglasses to jewelry and framed art. Dale, who said he last attended the Detroit jazz festival two years ago, gazed down the street toward Campus Martius, over the hundreds of milling shoppers and those grabbing a plate of food or a a beer: "This is better," he said. "I think I like this side (of Jefferson) better than Hart Plaza."

That was the crazy thing Saturday night. Even with jazz stars like organist Joey DeFrancesco and pianist McCoy Tyner performing on the plaza, and no music at all to be heard at the Campus Martius end of Woodward, the street remained jammed with folks just having a good time, enjoying the gentle breeze.

"I'm not really a jazz fan," said Diana Riggins of Detroit, who showed up with daughters Kristina Shannon, 16, and Kelly Shannon, 15. "I just wanted to get out of the house, maybe visit the shops and get something to eat." But all three said they loved the mellow atmosphere.

The aging funk-rocker Nathaniel Mayer was loving it, too. Backed by string of clapping, swaying doo-wop guys, Mayer had a whole lot of shakin' goin' on as he swooped and tossed his head and moaned his lyrics. Like Ray Charles on acid.

But not everybody was so happy. The New Orleans blues-funk keyboardist Dr. John gave a big crowd at the Campus Martius stage a piece of his mind about the way Hurricane Katrina relief has been handled. In the middle of one song, he launched into a sort of accompanied polemic in which he declared (in plain-spoken terms) that he was upset with the politicians. "Nawlins didn't die a natural death," he intoned. "It was cold-blooded murder."

Many in the audience responded with empathic applause. When Dr. John finished his song, he told his listeners he had a penchant for being "politically uncorrect."

While the Katrina catastrophe came up here and there on stages at Hart Plaza, with artists urging donations to relief efforts, politics did not. Hart Plaza, still the core site of this festival, was strictly about great jazz. Organist Joey DeFrancesco, in a program honoring the late Jimmy Smith, wowed listeners at the Absopure Waterfront stage with his high-speed pyrotechnics. He also doubled everyone's pleasure by unexpectedly bringing on tenor saxophonist Ron Blake, and the twosome served up an elaborate, rambling excursion based on the Kurt Weill tune "Speak Low."

Pianist McCoy Tyner, one of the festival's main attractions, showed the stuff of legends in a performance with his trio that proved how even edgy bop can have an intimate feel. In a fetching solo, Tyner the bebop lion took a mellow turn down a path of jazz impressionism. Other Saturday highlights included an eloquent, often exotic set by the French-born vocalist Ilona Knopfler and a colorful exercise in fusion jazz by synthesizer wizard Joe Zawinul and the band he calls the Zawinul Syndicate.

With two days remaining, jazz fest 2005 is shaping up as an affair to remember.


hey folks the pictures are awesome look at the link:

http://www.detnews.com/2005/events/0...azz-303454.htm

[Frisco]

Although the spirit of Albert Ayler is no longer allowed to be heard musically at the Detroit Jazz Festival, his spirit was felt by many in attendance who agreed that Music is indeed the Healing Force of the Universe. I've never run into so many angered, enraged people, struggling to deal with thoughts and images of those who wait for help and those for whom help is coming too late in New Orleans. If someone had taken a vote for impeachment of Bush, it would have passed unanimously. The music soothed many who seemed to just need the opportunity to vent amongst friends. Some sounds that I heard:

Saturday afternoon the Campus Martius stage rocked with the sounds of Bon Temps Rouelle who rolled through tunes such as "Let the Good Times Roll" and "Do You Know What is means to Miss New Orleans". Still early in the afternoon the legendary Detroit/Ann Arbor activist and poet, former New Orleans resident and radio host John Sinclair shouted and screamed about the power and spirit of John Coltrane.

Later in the afternoon the great pianist and composer Randy Weston shared his visions of the African community spirit and love in some of his classic pieces such as "African Cookbook", "High Fly", 'Little Niles" and "Blue Moses". Randy was joined by bassist Alex Blake and African percussionist Neil Clarke. The music rang with all the power and beauty that is the music of Randy Weston in a typically excellent set from the pianist. No real surprises but solid extended workings.

In the early evening, the crowd was abuzz, awaiting the apperance of McCoy Tyner. McCoy had burned the stages of Detroit's festival on a couple of occasions with his Big Band, but it has been quite a few years since he has been in the city. A bit mellowed with age, McCoy still delighted his fans with a short but sweet set. He appeared so much thinner than we had seen him over the years. Many were hoping and praying that his health is still good.

Afterwards we were able to hear some of ther sounds of organist Joey DeFrancesco from a short distance as we sat by the Detroit River and enjoyed the cool breeze of the night.

[Enforcer]

I spent a good part of Saturday and Monday at the Festival. Had a great time both nights. The weather was just perfect. The expanded borders really worked. I saw lots of people hanging out at Campus Martius and along Woodward where the new stages were added. Seeing both Zawinul and Brubeck in the same weekend was especially cool. I don't recall either ever playing the Detroit Jazz Festival before.

As far as the local scene goes, I saw Ed Love but don't believe I spotted Kim Heron at all during the event. He was hosting his usual Sunday night show, so he obviously was in studio that evening, but usually he finds his way to one of the stages for at least one or two acts.

[Frisco]

Larry, Kim introduced Randy Weston on Saturday. He was there again on Sunday afternoon during Geri Allen's set. I think my favorite set may have been Donald Walden's though I love Weston's tunes. Mark Stryker wrote a nice wrapup of the festival which was deservedly very positive. I credit him for qualifying his review with the statement that the festival lacked (once again) either the contemporary NYC scene or the avant-garde. Like people would stay away if one avant-garde act were booked(?) I might guess that a certain DJ/festival consultant does his best to make sure it is excluded. Nice time though. Thanks Lois!

[Enforcer]

Originally Posted by Frisco

I might guess that a certain DJ/festival consultant does his best to make sure it is excluded.

Good point, Frisco. I'm sure you're right. This goes back a few years, but do you remember that certain DJ's rant the night Sun Ra died and he was asked to play something by Sun Ra? In the time he spent explaining why he wouldn't play Sun Ra, he could have played an entire CD by someone else. It was ridiculous and his anger at the simple requests caught me completely off guard. Very strange.

[jazzy mary]

Jazzzoline, did you go???

[Al in NYC]

OK, so I'm a day late and a dollar short here, but I really did show up at this festival. I just decided to extend my vacation a bit and spend a little more time over in Canada with the folks, and a little more time in Detroit working on (and, yes, fulminating about) the Gulf Coast disaster. But I promised, so...

I met Pat (Frisco) again along with his friend while waiting in line on Saturday afternoon at the Hard Rock Cafe for my passes, etc. from Lois' largesse. The day was beautiful warm breezy and pleasant as I walked down a relaxed, festive Woodward Ave. to meet my parents at the Hart Plaza amphitheatre for the day's events. It's certainly heartening to see my former city in somewhat better shape these days, and to see lots of Detroiters out having a good time. And especially nice to see the festival apparently doing well again with people all over enjoying good music.

So, here are some things I saw, and enjoyed, at this year's festival, in chronological order:

Randy Weston's set was exciting and percussive, as always, showcasing many of his most familiar tunes played in intriguing ways. Bassist Alex Blake, as he usually does, laid out the crowd (and my dad) with his guitar-like playing. This was followed by a serious Detroit lunch of some fried fish with french fries and fried okra from the church ladies on the lower level (and, of course, some beer from the cooler). Man, did that make me feel like I was back home.

Given his recent health problems I was a bit surprised to see McCoy Tyner on the schedule, and he showed up looking (and sounding) frail and not at all well. His playing though, adjusted to his present physical capabilities, sounded fine, although he is certainly not the dynamo of times past. His bassisit, the estimable Charnett Moffet, also played great and occasioned much comment in the crowd. Despite the limitations imposed by his health McCoy received a great response and played a nice encore.

The B-3 sound is always a favorite in Detroit and Joey DeFrancesco has been a consistent presence at the festival over the past several years. His set at the stage set up by the riverfront started out with a tribute to Jimmy Smith. It all lagged a bit in the middle and bogged down, but the set caught a bit of fire towards the end when tenorman Ron Blake put in an appearance for the last 2 numbers, including a lengthy blues. Joey finished up with the traditional encore of the black national anthem, which, of course, had much of the crowd standing and cheering throughout.

Over at the Pyramid stage the Hot Club of Detroit, made up of young local musicians playing in the style of -- well, you can guess -- put on a crowd pleasing show for the late night set. Although a bit ragged in the ensembles at times, the virtuosity of the clarinetist (who was actually quite stunning, but whose name I've misplaced) and of lead guitar and leader Evan Perri held the whole thing together very well.

Sunday was not quite as good, but still had a few interesting events. I arrived at the waterfront part way through Gerald Wilson's show. It was his 83rd birthday and his big band played its way through a joyful set that showed off his writing, arranging, and conducting skills. I'm not normally much of a big band fan, but Wilson's bands always manage to sound exiciting, particularly in the contrasting arranging for the various sections.

Over at the Amphitheatre Toots Thielemans brought on a band of Kenny Werner, Oscar Castro-Neves, and Airto Moriera for a languid set of mostly Brazilian influenced tunes. This is stuff my father loves but I find unexciting and even boring. And to be honest I felt that way about much of this set. However, the level of playing here was so high and Toots himself gave off such a warm presence, that the audience eventually became thoroughly engaged and it was suddenly like a small intimate club set, even in a big outdoor amphitheatre. By the end they had the charmed audience in their hands and received a huge ovation.

David Newman brought out fellow Ray Charles veterans Howard Johnson and Marcus Belgrave (Mr. Detroit jazz himself) for a set dedicated to Brother Ray's music. Despite some fun moments, and some seriously bluesy playing by the 3 principals, this set never really quite jelled. It basically devolved to a set of solos and trading fours that became rather repetitive after awhile. Pretty much a case, I think, of folks who hadn't played together very much, if at all.

After seeing some completely uninspiring jazz/funk from Ron Blake and a workmanlike set from TS Monk that was somewhat undone by some weak links in his band, it was nice to go back to the Pyramid for the late set and see a group of local musicians, mixed young and old, playing well. Ernie Rogers' Rapa House Too band (a septet, named after a legendary Detroit jamming spot that was run out of Ernie's house on Vernor) played a fine set of standard hardbop that was handled crisply and with some excitement and inventivenss on the part of the soloists. Ernie's own multi-reed playing was in many ways the highlight. Living in NYC one often forgets just how high the level of musicianship can be in Detroit, but these guys sure showed it.

Very late that evening we dropped in at a jammed Bert's downtown club on Broadway for a drink or 2. James Carter was there blowing up his usual storm and scaring all the other musicians away. I remain ambivalent about James, whom I've seen around since his early kid genius days in Donald Washington's Bird-Trane-Sco-Now organization. He can play rings around most anybody, but the problem is that he just keeps trying to do not much more than that and really overplays far too much of the time. Watching him blow out the back wall of Bert's was fun for awhile, but it paled eventually.

On Monday I was on my way out of town to have dinner with an old friend in Toledo, but I still had time to catch some music before the festival closed. As Pat has already alluded to, on a hot afternoon in the Amphitheatre Donald Walden's group of Detroit musicians (including Ernie Rogers from the previous evening) played a lovely set of arrangements that was consistently interesting. There were several Dameron tunes in the set that really allowed the contrasting soloists, some out of a somewhat more avant bag, to shine and show their stuff.

Later in the day Detroiter Charles McPherson appeared and played a truly smoking set of straight-up bluesy hardbop that was, with my last beer in the warm sun, and the company of my jazz-loving family, pretty much the perfect way to finish off my long Detroit jazz festival weekend.

A word about the festival itself here though, I very much agree with Pat that an element is missing in recent Detroit jazz festivals. Although it was never a focus of the festival in any meaningful way, at least earlier festivals paid some attention to Detroit's significant free/avant jazz community and heritage. I very much remember coming down there and seeing the legendary Griot Galaxy several times. Roscoe Mitchell put in a couple of appearances at the festival and was extremely well received by the crowd, and other combinations of more adventurous music have appeared in the past and haven't chased the crowds away. Even as late a couple of years ago former Griot member Faruq Z. Bey showed up to play a fine consistently intriguing set, and even Greg Osby came in a played some stuff that sure wasn't rote hardbop, but since then the presence of this sort of jazz seems to have fallen completely out of the programming. Although I'm not going to point any fingers here, I think this is a real shame and serves to diminish rather than enhance the festival as whole.

[Enforcer]

Great post, Al. Thanks for sharing all that. Sounds like a great time!

One Detroit based cat who pushed the boundaries a little and who was a fixture at the festivals but who hasn't been around for awhile now is A. Spencer Barefield. He managed to pull Reggie Workman into Baker's back in the mid-90s with a Detroit rhythm section and it was a burning set of standards like All Blues, Footprints and a burning rendition of Stanley Cowell's Effi.

[Valerie]

thanks so much for the long, newsy post, al. so glad you enjoyed. am especially grateful that you mentioned enjoying one of my favorites: charles mcpherson. yeah!

[jazzy mary]

Thanks for the report, Al. I agree, it would be cool if the fest would continue w/ some "avant-garde" (hate that handle) music. I'd love to hear Faruq Z Bey sometime.

I swear, next year I'm gonna go and hook up with you (I did meet you once--do you recall--at the defunct Phoenix retaurant) and Friscoe and Larry.

[Jazzzoline]

No, JM, I'm not a man.
Nice trying though...

[Lois Gilbert]

Originally Posted by Jazzzoline

No, JM, I'm not a man.
Nice trying though...

So how was everything? Love to hear your thoughts.
Best Lois